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(No Model.) 3 Sheets--Sheet 1.

w. T. LINTNEB & W. 0. BULL.

SHIRT AND DRAWERS STRETGHER.

No. 658,035: Patented Apr. 14, 1896'.

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g M WILLIAM 'lkLlN'I'JSTER,

ZWAZ. BY h w AN DREW BVGRAHAM, PHOIO4LI'IW4WASHINGTON, D.C.

(No Model.)

v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. T. LINTNER & W. 0. BULL.

SHIRT AND DRAWBRS STREI'UHBR.

Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

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WITNESSES ANDPEW a GRAMAM Mmo-Lrmn WASHINGTOPLDD 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.) 5 r r W. T. LIN TNEB 85W. 0. BULL.

SHIRT AND DRAWERS STRETGHER.

No. 558,055. Patented Apr. 14, 1595. 5

WITNESSES: INVIEfN'IURS:

4 M VV ILLIAM T- IQIJ'SITNER,

i g WILLIAM 1:. BULL,

f/l/ I A? r I I BY 5 MTQRN'EY.

ANDREW ELGRANAM, PHOTO-UTHQWASHINGTON. 0L

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM T. LINTNER, OF TROY, NEW YORK, AND \VILLIAM O. BULL, OF BENNINGTON, VERMONT.

SHIRT AND DRAWERS STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming .part of Letters Patent No. 558,085, datedApril 14, 1896. Application filed July 17, 1889. Serial No. 817,772. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM T. LINTNER, of the cityof'Troy, inthe county of Bensselaer and State of New York, and WILLIAM G. BULL,'of the'villageof Benningto'n, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, citizens of the United'States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Frames for Stretching and Drying Shirts and Drawers, of which the following is a specification.

It is customary in the manufacture of knit shirts and drawers after the garment has been put together to wash and scour it and then stretch it on a frame to shape and dry it. It follows, therefore, that as many different sizes of frames are required to do the work properly as there are different sizes of garments. As a consequence, where the frames are not adjustable as many complements of frames are required as there are diiferent sizes of goods made in the mill and all the frames will be lying idle except those sizes which are covered by the orders in hand. Hence a considerable amount of capital and stock is at all times lying idle invested in these surplus drying-frames, to say nothing of the incumbrance which they occasion and require. These frames have usually been made of wood and were not adjustable, and

their life was limited and depended upon the care and usage which they received at the hands of the operatives.

The object of this invention is to obviate some of the objectionable features of the old wooden frame and at the same time to provide a frame which shall be much more durable and be capable of adjustment in all of its several dimensions, so that the same frame may be employed for any size of garment for which it is adapted. It is also capable of adjustment in all its several members independently of the others-that is to say, the girth of any member may be altered inde pendently of its length, or vice versa, or the size of any member may be changed without altering the size of any other member.

The invention is fully shown in the drawings, wherein the same is exhibited as appliedto both shirts and drawers.

Figure 1 shows it as exemplified in a stretcher-frame for a pair of drawers. Fig. 2 is a folding shirt-frame which embodies the same improvements. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of an expansible coupling, which is employed in various parts of both shirts and drawers. Fig. lis a section showingin detail a slip-coupling employed in various parts of the frames.

Fig. 5 represents a detail View, partly inelevationand partly in section, of the rod 17, which closes thecrotch of the drawers-frame and the parts into which it fits and which are adjustable on it toward or from each other. Fig. 6 represents in enlarged perspective the joint 0 of the neck or waist of the shirt-frame, the parts connected thereby, and one of the sleeves T. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of the arm and body connection of the shirt-frame. Fig. 8 is a modification of the detail seen in Fig. 7, showing the use of a semitubular species of material. Fig. 9 is another modification of the same detail. Fig. 10 shows the several members of the coupling seen in Fig. 3 separated. Fig. 11 is a view of a right and left hand threaded sleeve-coupling. Fig. 12 shows a modification of the crotch-coupling seen in Fig. 5 and also exhibits clips attached to the frame for holding the border of the garment down. Fig. 13 shows the same clips as attached to a shirt-frame. i

In the drawings we have shown our invention embodied in several kinds of materialviz., tubes, half-round iron, and semitubular shapes. As any of these may be used, we have shown them all, the main difierence between them lying in the construction of the joints and couplings.

Our invention, as shown in Fig. 1, consists of a frame made from light gas or steam pipe, constructed in sections, which are united by either rigid or adjustable connections. It is composed of two hip-pieces 5, the two legpieces 16, the thigh-pieces 13, and the crotchpiece 10 11 17. The tops of the side pieces are connected by the tie-bar l 2 3, and the hip and thigh pieces are joined by the expan-' sible connections 7 8 9. The couplings 1, 7, 1 1, and 15 are alike in construction and their details are seen in Fig. 10. They consist of a sleeve T, which is provided with an internal taper thread y at one end, the other end being ehamfered out large enough to receive the end of the pipe K, which is fitted with the stem W. The end of the opposing member L of the connection is split, as seen at z, and is externally threaded, as seen at 00, with a taper thread, which fits the internal thread y of the sleeve T. The parts when assembled are in the position seen in Fig. 3. In use the end of the part L is entered in the thread y of the coupling T. and then the stem W' is inserted in the slot 2. By turning the sleevecoupling the two split halves of the end L are forced to bite the end of the stem W and thus hold it tight. The sleeve T is made of thin metal and has its ends chamfered off, as shown, so that they shall produce as little disfigurement of the goods as possible, and its chamfered part is long enough to extend over the shoulder where stem V enters the pipe K.

The couplings 4 and 6 are like the detail seen in Fig. 4. They consist of a malleable hollow casting U of T shape, in which the cross part is fitted to allow the tubular part of the frame to slip through it, and the stem part is threaded to take in the threaded end of the adjacent connection and permit it to be screwed up, so that the end shall bind against the side of the piece which passes through the cross art.

The crotch-piece shown in detail in Fig. 5 consists of two small coupling-pieces 10 and 11, connected by a tie-rod 17. This rod is made fast in piece 10 and slips in piece 11, in which it is held in adjustment by the setscrew 12. The pieces 8 and 8 are the ends of the two parts of the adjustable couplings which connect the crotch-piece with the side pieces, as shown in Fig. 1.

Our invention as embodied in a shirt-frame is shown in Figs. 2, 7, and 13 and modifications in part in Figs. 8 and 9; but Fig. 2 will show the principal features. This frame consists of two symmetrical halves hinged together in the middle at O O by hinges similar to that seen in-Fig. 6. This frame is made up of two side pieces J J,wl1ich carry couplings U U U U, like those shown in Fig. 4, and the two armpit-couplings S S, which are like the detail seen in Fig. 7. The shoulder-bars M M pass through the top couplings and are held therein by the screwing up against them of the side pieces J' J. The inner projecting parts of the shoulder-bars are fitted to take the couplings T T, which are intermediately connected by the hinged member N N, the respective ends of which are fitted to receive the couplings T T. The outwardly projecting arms of pieces M M and of the armpit-pieces L L are connected by couplings T T to the forearmforms K K. At or near the bottom of the frame the two sides J J are connected by the coupled and hinged connections P T N P T N,

which are substantially like the top connectionMTNMTN.

In the modification of the drawers-frame shown in Fig. 12 a combination of tubular sections with solid coupling parts is employed. The crotch form 53 is rigid and consists of a U shape in metal provided with right and left lateral threaded stems 51 and similar threaded stems 55, with which the thigh parts connect. At the hips similar fittings are provided having two vertical and one lateral threaded stems 52 for connecting with the adjacent tubular members of the frame. The tubular right and left hand threaded sleeve-coupling 50 connects stem 51 with 52, and adjustment of the size of the thigh part of the frame is obtained by simply turning the sleeve-coupling 50 one way or the other. The connections at the top are similar to those shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing it is manifest that various shapes of metal rods maybe employed in the construction of the separate members which go to make up the frame and that various kinds of couplings can also be used in con nection therewith. Hence we express no preference here for any particular style of material to the exclusion of any well-known substitute therefor, nor for any particular form of coupling, as these matters can well be left to the individual judgment of the manufacturer in each case.

An explanation of the use of the invention as applied to a shirt-frame will suffice to explain all its uses, as they are the same as applied to a drawers-frame.

To put the shirt-frame into adjustment for use consists simply in fixing the waist or body measure the length of the sleeves and measure around the shoulder. The waist or body measure is got by loosening the couplings at top and bottom of the frame bybacking off the sleeves T T T T from the rods M M and P P, respectively, which leaves the stems of the hinge parts N N N N free to be drawn out of the coupling-grip when the width is fixed, and the sleeves T T T T are then screwed up tight. The length of the arm is regulated by loosening the sleeves T T T T of the arm parts of the frame and then drawing out or pushing in, as the case may be, the forearm parts K K until the right length is secured, when the couplings are tightened, as before described. Bylooseningtheset-screws R R the couplings S S may be slipped up or down, as desired, until the desired armhole or shoulder measure is obtained, when the screws are tightened and the adjustments are complete.

It will be seen that the dimensions of the 1 body measure of either a shirt or a pair of drawers may be altered without changing the measure or length of either the sleeve or the leg, as the case may be. This feature possesses special advantages, as it enables the manu facturer to so adjust the frames that the form for the ribs at the bottom of the drawers and the ends of the sleeves can be brought to their proper positions in relation to the .rib on the pair of drawers or shirt to have them dry in proper form without being drawn out of their true and natural proportions. In the shirt-frame the bottom cross-bar, which is made up of the parts U P T N U P T N, can also be raised or lowered on the side pieces J J by simply loosening the parts P P in the couplings U U and then slipping the same up or down, as wanted, and tightening the parts again, as before described. The top bar of the drawers (seen in Fig. 1) may also be adjusted vertically in the same way.

As shown in Fig. 7, the upright side piece or body part J has a coupling-block S sleeved thereon and clamped by a screw R at any desired elevation. One side of this couplingblock has an upwardly and outwardly inclined screw-threaded recess formed therein to receive the correspondingly screw-threaded end of the tubular arm L; but sometimes, as shown in Fig. 8, we prefer to dispense with this block and use a semitubular arm L, from which a screw-threaded stud J extends through a vertical slot J .in the semitubular body part J, receiving a clamping-nut R on it beyond the said body part. Also, as shown in Fig. 9, we sometimes use a solid arm L and body part J having otherwise the same form and means of attachment as appear in Fig. 8.

7e therefore claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The described frame consisting of separable body and limb sections united by adjusting limb-couplings, the body and each separable member being positively adjustable as to its girth independently of the other members by means substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

3. A drawers-drying frame of the character described composed of sections of rods, the ends of adjacent sections being united by adjusting-couplings, such couplings being disposed in the make-up of the frame at points between the two outside pieces at top of frame and between the two outside pieces and the crotch for purposes of regulating girth, and along the sides of the limbs between the crotch and ankles to regulate length, constructed and arranged to operate substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof we have hereto subscribed our names this 2d day of July, A. D.

WVILLIAM T. LINTNER. WVILLIAM O. BULL.

Witnesses as to Wm. T. Lintner:

L. A. RoUssEAU, M. D. Fnno.

\Vitnesses as to WVm. 0. Bull:

E. A. BOOTH, H. D. MoULTHRoP. 

